COLOMBO, Feb 20 (NNN-SLNEWS) – Tourist arrivals into Sri Lanka crossed the 4,000 mark, since the authorities re-opened its international airports in the last week of Jan, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson, Kimarli Fernando, told media that, within just three weeks of airports opening, on Jan 21, for international travellers and commercial flights, Sri Lanka had received 4,368 tourists.
Sri Lanka closed its international airports in March last year, following a spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, to date, infected over 78,000 people and caused 430 deaths.
According to official figures, 211 tourists were the latest to arrive from Kazakhstan, at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA), in southern Sri Lanka on Thursday, and Ukraine tops the tourist arrival numbers with close to 1,500, followed by Kazakhstan and India.
Fernando said, they expect more tourists in the coming months, as Sri Lanka Tourism is planning to roll out a much-awaited global campaign.
“Tourism Minister, Prasanna Ranatunga, appointed a Steering Committee to ensure a successful global campaign, to promote Sri Lanka as an attractive tourist destination, but also as a safe country.”
Sri Lanka, on Wednesday, lifted temporary travel restrictions, introduced by the government on travellers originating from Britain, due to the spread of a new COVID-19 variant and said, tourist arrivals from Britain too, will resume under the guidelines introduced by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.– NNN-SLNEWS
